Forces of Change: The Road to Confederation

Pre – Assessment Answer this question, once you are done lets have a conversation about your answers. “How does Canada become Canada?”

Confederation Confederation was the product of forces/conditions that were both domestic and external in origin

Internal Reasons for Confederation Within the colonies, economic necessities and political deadlock were forcing traditional political foes, the two linguistic communities and the differing regions, to jointly devise a new and workable political structure.

External Reason for Confederation The politics, agendas and actions of both Britain and the United States, promoted the need for a new political Framework for British North America.

The Fragile Export Economy

After the Act of Union Upper and Lower Canada were united The provinces were called Canada West and Canada East

Immigration British immigration contributed to a massive increase in the population of British North America. between 1812 and 1842, the population of Upper Canada increased from 90 000 to 487 000. Only 50 000 immigrants settled in Lower Canada during the same period. Most settled in the region which is now southern Ontario and established a largely English-speaking and Protestant population.

Mercantilism Lives The economy of British North America was dependant on markets for goods in Britain This was guaranteed by Colonial Preference – during the Napoleonic Wars This gave the exporters in the colonies a guaranteed market Timber and wheat were established as staple exports

Mercantilism British North America Britain Raw Materials Timber/Wheat Finished Products Furniture/Farming Eq.

Corn Laws Corn Laws allowed certain imports from the colonies to enter Britain free from import duties which were applied to imports from non-colonial sources. Corn Laws gave Canada's farmers, with their wheat surplus a duty-free market in Britain which was not available to their American competitors.

Mercantilism Lives The milling industry grew “overnight” when flour from Canada became popular Even American grain was bought, milled, and sold in Britain The economy prospered based on the practice of Colonial Preference

The Death of Mercantilism Britain began to industrialize this led to a surplus of finished goods and a desire to find new markets The Irish Potato Famine caused Britain to require more imported food These factors led to an abolition of import duties Britain had embraced a doctrine of Free Trade

The Death of Mercantilism This devastated the colonial economy The colonies were forced to compete in a world market to sell their goods This caused prices to drop The colonies were then forced to look for a new market for their goods The Corn Laws were repealed in 1846..

Raw Materials Timber/Wheat End of the Corn Laws Raw Materials Timber/Wheat British North America Britain America

Colonial Political Instability and The American Threat

The Workings of the Government One of the political goals of the Act of Union of 1840-41 was to improve the workings of colonial government. That did not happen. In the fifteen years following implementation of the Act of Union, the united colony had fifteen different governments and numerous elections. Various issues such as the issue of representation by population. Canada West and East each had 42 seats in the government

Rep by Pop 1861, the population of Canada West was nearly 300 000 greater than the population of Canada East. George Brown voiced the attitude of many in Canada West when he demanded the implementation of representation by population. The French-speaking population felt that representation by population was a threat to its language and culture.

Manifest Destiny During this time there was a belief among some Americans that it was their nation's destiny to control the entire North American continent.

Manifest Destiny Throughout the 1840s, many Americans believed that it was their nation's manifest destiny to expand and occupy all of the North America. The American war against Mexico added large areas of the southwest of the continent to the Republic. There was fear that the U.S. might use military force to incorporate the northern half of the continent into the Republic. The thinly populated Rupert's Land seemed particularly vulnerable to American encroachment.

Political Considerations Collided with Economic Necessities While fearing the intentions of the Americans, they realized that colonial economic prosperity greatly depended on access to the expanding U.S. domestic market. To compensate for the loss of British preferential trade, the Canadian colonies entered into a reciprocity treaty with the United States in 1854.

Reciprocity British North America America Raw Materials Timber/Wheat

Reciprocity Reciprocity provided the Canadians with a market for their goods Canada could navigate Lake Michigan The United States could navigate the St. Lawrence Demand in Europe for Canadian goods skyrocketed

Reciprocity This caused a boom in the Canadian economy The treaty was to last for ten years After that either side could end the treaty with one years notice In 1859 Canada introduced the Galt Tariffs on goods entering Canada The American Civil War increased demand for Canadian goods south of the boarder

Reciprocity Anti-British sentiment was running high after the Trent Affair This mistrust was directed at British North America The Americans felt that Canada gained from reciprocity (Sound familiar NAFTA) In 1865 the Americans ended

Effects of Reciprocity The Americans felt that ending reciprocity would make Canada ripe for annexation Once again Canada was forced to look for new markets for goods

A Canadian Reality The political deadlock that characterized colonial government led a increasing number of colonial leaders to seek a new political arrangement. The proposal to unite all the colonies of British North America gained support.

Review Questions What are the dangers of an export economy? How was the relationship with the United States different during reciprocity from today? How was it similar? Without Britain and the United States where will the colonies export goods to ?

Exit Question As our economic future hangs in the balance, what does Canada have to do to ensure that our close trading ties with the U.S. does not effect our economic future?